Of Martyrs And Machina Obscura
by Jave Harron
Summary: As an lone Al Bhed takes on the Yevon theocracy, a war of martyrs and machina starts as Reason and Faith collide in Spira...
1. Surgeons

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Of Martyrs And Machina Obscura

By Jave Harron

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy X and Spira are property of Squaresoft. This story will not be used for only purposes of entertainment, not commercial ones. 

Notes: To see what FFX has been crossed with, see the appendix to my other story, _In The Eyes Of God. _This entire story is just an experiment for me, to test my ability to write crossovers. If you, the reader, do not like it, I will take your comments to heart. 

Prologue: Surgeons 

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One year before the Eternal Calm, unknown location

Rakul Citch was stunned in horror. Three strange people had restrained him to a strange wall with no visible chains. It was as if gravity itself was keeping him still. 

The two men and woman that held him said nothing to him. They each had unique features, however. They all shared a green membrane on the back of their necks. 

One of the men had a mechanical implant on his face, but other than that and the green membranes, they could pass for normal humans. 

He remembered he simply woke up in this place, the small featureless metal room he was in. 

The one woman injected him with a syringe full of gray paste, and attached advanced body armor to his torso. 

"You are on your own from here, Rakul," the woman said, "All we wish of you is to overthrow Yevon." 

Rakul could not respond, though try he might. 

"We've looked at your recorded, Rakul Citch. You are one of the most rational and collected people in Spira. If anyone can stop the abomination of government that is the Yevon theocracy, it is you!" one of the men cheered. 

"We will give you the tools. For example, that injection will help you heal, control aging, and even find machina. All you need to do is salvage an army. Machina can be rebuilt if damaged. They are the prefect soldiers, for they do not need food nor water," the man with the mechanical implant said. 

"Also, there will be a voice in your head that will help you. Do not fear him, for he can help quite a bit," the woman explained. 

Rakul closed his eyes, and heard someone speak inside his head. 

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I look forward to getting to know you, Rakul. Now, you must try to rest. 

At this, Rakul began to sleep, as if on cue. 

Rakul awoke in cold sweat in his bed on board his salvage ship. 

What a dream, he mused to himself. 

Glancing in a mirror, he saw he was in strange clothes. 

His jaw dropped, for he was in the same advanced armor that the people in the dream gave him. 

**__**

That was no dream, Rakul. Welcome to your story. 

It was then Rakul screamed. 


	2. Awakening

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Of Martyrs And Machina Obscura

By Jave Harron

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy X and Spira are property of Squaresoft. This story will not be used for only purposes of entertainment, not commercial ones. 

Notes: To see what FFX has been crossed with, see the appendix to my other story, _In The Eyes Of God. _If you, the reader, have come this far, I advise you to continue. 

Chapter I: Awakening

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One year before the Eternal Calm, on Al Bhed salvage ship, _Zyja Rynnuh _

Rakul shook his head in disbelief, and he heard the voice again. 

**__**

You have your task ahead of you, Rakul. Now do it. 

What the blazes? How do I overthrow Yevon? They've ruled unchallenged for one thousand years! 

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They fear change, Rakul. You must bring change.

Save for the Al Bhed, Spira resists change! 

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I've helped overthrow oversized cults founded philosophies that are several thousand years old. Yevon is just an oversized cult. 

But they have troops, and even support from zealous fighters! 

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Now, Rakul, what is the one thing they ban, and the reason they persecute you Al Bhed? 

Of course! Machina! They fear machina, so they persecute those who use it, because when the people gain machina, they gain power and threaten Yevon's dominion of Spira. 

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Right! There's a whole army of machina, under your feet, literally. Check the control room. 

Rakul grabbed his trusty weapon, his punch gun, strapped it to his right arm, and ran to the bridge of the _Zyja Rynnuh_. 

  
As he ran up the metal stairs, he examined his weapon of choice. 

The punch gun was a unique weapon. Most Al Bhed preferred to use a gun or a metal glove, but the punch gun was the best of both worlds. 

It had a spring loaded cartridge in it that contained a unique type of bullets, called 'shotgun shells' by Cid, that were fired by an impact trigger. 

To absorb the recoil, a spring was used, and it also ejected the empty shell and loaded the next one. 

In dire situations, the shell could be fired by a small switch on the bottom of the glove, making it a ranged weapon. 

Not many fiends could survive a shotgun shell at point blank range. 

Nor Yevonite monks, he thought with a smirk. 

"Rakul! There's something you should see! I think this could be the mother load!" his assistant Gereu exclaimed. 

Rakul examined at his assistant closer, for now, he felt he could look at things more closely. 

Gereu had her long red hair disheveled, and her goggles down around her neck.

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Red hair… That's something ultra-rare among us Al Bhed…

Her crossbow was swung across her back, and her small hammer was by her side, as well as some other tools. 

Gereu wore a green jacket and shorts, made of some strange material she had found in some ruins. 

She was the one that named the ship, and also was the only other person on board, since machina called 'computers' ran the entire ship. 

"There's a _huge _set of ruins below us, and that's not all!" Gereu added. 

"What is going on? I just got up, you know," Rakul answered. 

"The ruins! They are in appear to be _rising_ to the surface!" Gereu explained. 

As if on cue, a huge object rose out of the water before them. 

It looked like a large metal box, but was rusted across it. 

There was an ancient door on the top, practically inviting them in. 

"Let's go, Gereu. I've got a good feeling about this," Rakul said as he walked out on deck. 

Gereu followed him, drawing her crossbow. 

This would be no normal salvage. 

Meanwhile, Gereu was thinking. 

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The war of Reason and Faith is about to engulf this world… Even with your help, Rakul, this will be a difficult task. 

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Q & A Session

Q: Where did the name for the story come from? 

A: From a fun PC game called Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura. Arcanum was about a fantasy world with an Industrial Revolution, and technology and magic were at each other's throats. In this story, machina (machines) are going to be fighting the Yevon army. Most religions make the people that die defending it into 'martyrs' of the faith. I combined the two, and got the title in a brainstorming session. 

Q: What in the world is Final Fantasy X crossed over with? 

A: My sci-fi epic, _In The Eyes Of God. _If you are interested in a story full of symbolism, philosophy, and plot twists (like Final Fantasy), read it. 

Q: Why is this set a year before FFX? 

A: Look at all the other stories on FFX. They take place _after _FFX. I wanted to a bit different, and before FFX is when Yevon was at the height of their power, making it more difficult for the protagonist. 

Q: Why did you choose an Al Bhed as a protagonist? 

A: The Al Bhed are the most technologically advanced faction in the game, and are free from Yevon's control. If you'll notice Rikku in the game, she also is skeptical of Wakka's claims that machina brought Sin. Since the Al Bhed are group of free-thinkers, they are perfect candidates for the forces that are helping Rakul. 

Q: Where did Rakul's name, weapon, and concept come from? 

A: Rakul Citch was an old character, but I never found a use for him until now. As for weapons, I wanted him to skilled at both melee and ranged combat. The punch gun was a weapon concept from the Fallout series, an RPG set in post-nuclear war California. If it seems familiar, Fallout was also made by the same producers as Arcanum. 

Q: Where did Rakul's companion Gereu and the ship name come from? 

A: Read _In The Eyes Of God,_ and run those names through an Al Bhed translator. Just search for them online, in any search engine. 

Q: What's this about the war of Reason and Faith? 

A: Read _In The Eyes Of God,_ think of FFX's plot. There's statues with souls in them, called 'fayth.' They are stagnant, unmoving, like Faith. There will be a force for Reason, that changes, adapts, and moves. They will be called the 'reesin,' in the spirit of FFX word plays. Of course, they will be coming into play later…

Q: Will the main characters of FFX make an appearance? 

A: Wait and see. 

Q: Any more hints? 

A: Nope. The motives of the forces of both sides may be revealed with a read into some of my other stories, though. 


	3. Fortress

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Of Martyrs And Machina Obscura

By Jave Harron

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy X and Spira are property of Squaresoft. This story will not be used for only purposes of entertainment, not commercial ones. 

Notes: To see what FFX has been crossed with, see the appendix to my other story, _In The Eyes Of God. _It's on fictionpress.net under my account there. If you, the reader, have come this far, I advise you to continue. 

Chapter II: Fortress

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One year before the Eternal Calm, on Al Bhed salvage ship, _Zyja Rynnuh _

Rakul looked out across the deck. 

The ruins in front of him seemed to be floating on the water, and were covered in rust. 

He readied his punch gun, and leapt to the nearest opening, a riveted hatch on the side.

As Rakul flew through the air, the riveted door opened, as if to let him in. He fell face first on the cold steel inside the ship. He was a bit groggy was when he recovered. 

Looking up, he saw a he was staring face to face with one nasty looking machina. 

The thing looked like a robotic spider, but it had a pair of manipulator arms protruding from the front, as well as a nasty looking cannon near its shoulder. 

The machina lifted up Rakul with its arms and loaded him into a compartment on its back. 

Meanwhile, on the ship, Gereu was having some difficulty. 

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You mean that Rakul's stumbled on to a whole nest of them? She asked. 

**__**

Yes. There's Instigators galore inside those ruins. Thankfully, Rakul doesn't know what else is in there…

An Instigator hive? 

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No. Some machina that was sealed underwater for one thousand years. Weapons from the old war between Zanarkand and Bevelle. 

Let me guess: biological and chemical. 

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Even better. I think you can figure it out on your own.

Nuclear bombs, right? 

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Correct. And if Rakul accidentally sent some towards a populated area…

You are right, but I am glad he doesn't know my true origin or motives. 

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Not to mention the fact we are working together. 

That comes natural. It was your plan to attempt a Conversion in Spira, after all. 

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Yes, but right now, I am having some difficulty. 

Oh? 

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Rakul has been taken by an Instigator. I recommend helping him before they…

Yes, yes, I know what Instigators do to the people they capture! 

With that, Kihio readied her hammer and crossbow, and rushed into the ruins before her. 


End file.
